Key Moments In Time
by Authoress of Evil
Summary: There were many moments in Charmed that would've been perfect for Chris to reveal his identity, along with things that could have turned out different if the characters acted differently. The following is a bunch disconnected story lines depicting that.


Importance  
A Charmed Two-Shot – Part One

Summary  
This is my version of what would've happened if Chris had any sense in Wyatt's room in Prince Charmed. Eventual revelation. Chris's PoV.

Written  
7/17/2010

A/N: I copied every word, word for word from Prince Charmed before Chris strays from the TVs plot. Hope I did a good job! There will be a part two, although who knows when that'll happen. PLEASE REVIEW, and I'll be encouraged to do more. Weird thing though. This is the FIRST CHARMED FANFIC I'VE UPLOADED! Even though I'm more obsessed with this show than I've been with ANYTHING ELSE IN MY LIFE! Just thought I'd share.

Disclaimer: 1,2, yell at you. 3,4, slam the door. 5,6, pitch a fit. 7, 8, cry and hate. 9, 10, don't own Charmed... again...

* * *

"Look, Chris, I don't want to go into it," Mo- _Piper_ said, and I'm pretty sure my scowl told her that I was about to reply, but she didn't even pause as she continued with the only response I hadn't considered, "But I'm _not_ going to be out on a date with the fireman, or anybody else for that matter anytime soon so that I can focus more on Wyatt."

_OH SHIT!_ Was my first thought as I looked the past version of my mother in the eye, and I could see that she wasn't joking. "W-what?" I asked making sure that I had heard what I thought I just heard.

"Did I stutter?" she said, joking, yet, at the same time, not joking at all. _No, no, NO! _

Everything was going all wrong. Sure, I was getting on her case about the fireman, but _DUH!_ He _was_ getting in the way of moi being conceived, and time was of the essence in that matter. _This cannot be happening, _I groaned internally.

Then, another thought occurred to me. Maybe she just needs some reassurance. "Piper, you can't give up on love," I insisted, "_ever._"

She looked at me like I had grown a second head. _Great. Now she thinks I'm from Mars. Nice going, Chris_, I said, figuratively face-palming. "Why not?" she asked rhetorically, in a 'why the hell do you care?' manner.

"Because…" _you're my mom and if you give up on love, I'll be so far gone, I'm not EVEN history. That's why._ "You just…" _Come on, Chris, think of something… "_Can't! That's why! It's not natural!"

And she thought I was crazy before… brilliant, just brilliant. Come on, what's a better one? Um… maybe I guilted her too much and she feels she has to make up for it this way. Yeah, let's try that maneuver. "Look, all I'm saying is, is you don't have to make that kind of sacrifice to protect Wyatt. That's why I'm here!"

Well, except for…

"Well, you weren't here earlier, were you?" she said tauntingly, grabbing her basket of laundry and walking briskly out of the room, making me have to hurry to catch up. "Look, the only thing that matters right now is what's best for Wyatt," she continued calmly.

"THIS IS NOT WHAT'S BEST FOR WYATT, PIPER!" I urged. _After all, you giving up on live = no me = no one to warn you about Wyatt turning ev- or, rather, something BAD happening to him = something BAD happening to him. Duh! Simple concept!_

"How do you know?" she asked briskly.

I sighed in annoyance. _Because I EXIST!_ But, I refrained, and said, "Because I've seen the future and this _isn't supposed to happen!_"

"So what _is _supposed to happen?" she said, whirling around to face me.

I groaned and replied with my signature answer, you know, the one even _I _was getting tired of, even if it _was _the truth, "Come on, you know I can't answer that." _Even if you have no idea how much I want to, _I added silently.

"Well, since you're sent from the future to change it, maybe this is one of the things that needs to be changed," she suggested, backing into Wyatt's room.

Without missing a beat I insisted, "No, it's not! _BELIEVE ME, _it's not!"

"SHHHH!" she shushed, careful not to wake my snoozing little big brother, who will _still _turn evil if I'm not born, which simply cannot happen.

I let out another groan, seeing that I was getting nowhere, and vaguely noted that she had noticed Leo's birthday present (one that I may have cast a spell to encourage him to send), before trying a different approach. "Look, if you're so concerned about protecting Wyatt, there's other ways to go about doing it, you know."

"Like what?" she asked distractedly.

"Like letting Leo take him up there for a while," I suggested. It was a reasonable idea. Leo would _love_ it, and maybe he'd trust me a little more if he found out I'd encouraged some more Daddy time for everyone's _favorite_ elder.

"Or," I said, approaching Wyatt cautiously as an idea that would solve more problems than just mine popped into my head. Almost as if reading my mind, he put up his force-field. As if I could possibly hurt him. He may be the future Source of all Evil, but if I couldn't kill him then, I sure as hell couldn't kill him now. "You could always bind his powers."

"Leo left me a birthday present. How sweet," Piper thought-aloud, showing me that she was giving me a zero on the attention-o-meter.

I walked towards her, glumly noting that Wyatt took down his force-field as I walk away, and pressed, "Will you think about what I said?"

"About what?" she asked, still looking at Leo's letter, and not giving me the time of die. Nice, Mom, real nice.

"_Binding Wyatt's powers!_" I repeated, with an obvious '_DUH!'_ expression on my face.

She seemed to consider it for a moment, but she dismissed it with a simple, "No way."

"Why not? No one would ever be after him and you'd have your life back!" I insisted, realizing how this would solve all my problems. _If he had no powers, no demons would want to turn him or kill him, Mom wouldn't have to worry about demons going after him, and Dad might even give me the time of Da-_

I stopped myself before I could think that thought. _No. Leo wasn't there for you in the future, and that's not what you came back to change, so forget about it._"

Piper seemed to seriously consider what I said for a moment, giving me some hope. _Maybe this is what I was supposed to do! Maybe this will solve everything! Maybe-_

"But that would be selfish of me, wouldn't it? To put my needs ahead of his destiny?" _His destiny to kill MILLIONS! NO! That is not FREAKING SELFISH! And I'm not worrying about YOUR needs right now, I'm worrying about MINE! _"I'm not being a martyr, Chris. Really, I'm not," _CLEARLY! "_I just get it now. I'm the mother of a very special child that, if I do my job right," _If? It doesn't matter how you do your job. You do it brilliantly, for TWO children, one of which gives you more hassle than you deserve, and Wyatt, the golden boy, still turns evil. _"Is going to do very special things." _No, he isn't, Mom. He's going to grow up to kill you. Why don't you understand that? _"What could possibly be more important than that?"

I looked at her painfully, trying to keep the tears at bay, and, for the first time since I got there, I willed her to make the connection. To realize the truth. To look past all the lies and see what I was hiding. _Please, Mom,_ I prayed silently. _Please, look at me, really look at me. See the truth. See it. Please!_

Then, just as something changed in her eyes, Wyatt started fussing. She went over to him and shushed him, turning off the light. I just stared at him with hurt in my eyes. As usual, my big brother took precedence over me. She was about to leave the room, when my mouth acted on its own, without my brain's consent.

"Well, there is one thing that might just fit the bill," I said quietly, without looking away from Wyatt.

She stopped in her tracks, and I could feel her staring at me with shock. There was silence for a moment, before she gasped out, "W-what?"

"There's one thing that I think is right up there with Wyatt's future," I continued, trying to figure out how to give my secret away without giving my secret away.

"And what exactly do you think could possibly be as important as Wyatt?" she asked rudely, and I could hear the malice in her voice, begging me to give her a reason, any reason, to blow my ass up.

"Forget it," I said instantly, wanting to avoid a conflict. "I shouldn't have said anything. God! Why am I so stupid?" I berated myself. "I should just go. I'm sorry I bothered you. Really. Forget I said anything."

"Uh, uh! No-no!" she exclaimed, grabbing my arm to stop me from orbing. "You cannot – CANNOT – say something like that and look that _sad_ and _open_ then expect me to let you just ditch! No! Spill, future boy!"

I sighed, took a last look at Wyatt, and, kicking myself all the while, allowed, "Alright. I'll tell you. But first off, we should leave Wyatt's room. We shouldn't have woken him up in the first place."

She cocked her head at me for a second, and grabbed my arm, half-dragging me out of the room.

Once we reached the living room, she hauled me over to the couch and made me sit, before plopping down next to me.

"Okay, Chris, tell me what the hell is going on. You are acting really weird, and since I've caught you in the most open mood you've been in since you got here, I am taking full advantage of that!" she rubbed her hands together evilly. "First you're all 'it's unnatural!" and now you're all "well there's one thing!" and I want some answers, and I do NOT intend to let you go before I get them!" _Crap. Not good._

"Fine. But remember, I can only tell you things that I can't see how could negatively impact the future, so don't expect too much, okay. No details. What do you want to know?" I asked, wishing I could bury myself deep underground.

"Okay. First off, WHAT THE HELL COULD POSSIBLY BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY SON!" she screeched, and then looked at me calmly, though a fire was burning behind her eyes.

"Nothing," I replied calmly. "But that really depends now doesn't it?"

She raised her eyebrow at me. "What?" she asked incredulously, probably expecting some kind of answer that they had come to expect of me, like "killing demons" or "hunting demons" or "forgetting about a normal life." "What do you mean, that depends?"

I took a deep breath, and steadied myself for what I was about to say. "It depends… on which son you're talking about."

There was silence for a moment as Piper looked at me in disbelief, before she stuttered, "But- But I only have one son… unless," then she gazed at me with unadulterated shock. "You know him, don't you? You know us, from the future? And… if what you're saying is true, then… I'm going to have another son… And that's how you know so much about us, isn't it? It's because you're friends with him, aren't you?" she asked, looking at me, her mouth slightly open.

I wanted to scream _NO! It's because I __**AM **__him, MOM!_ But, I resisted. She had given me the perfect out, and I had to follow it. I nodded, looking at her. "Yeah, I guess you could say that I know him as well as I know myself," I admitted, giving her a half-truth. I mean, I do know myself as well as I know… myself. "And, um, I did know you guys growing up. Hell, you guys practically raised me." That's when I knew I'd said too much.

"And- and that's why you said that's not what's best for Wyatt, isn't it? You said it because of his little brother?" I nodded again. "Who's the father?" she inquired.

"About that… do you _really _need to know?" I asked, laughing nervously and trying not to meet her eyes.

"Uh, duh?" she expressed. "How else is he going to get… you know? Unless he's much younger than Wyatt… Either way, it'll save me playing the dating game. Please?" she urged, and I gave in after a few seconds.

"Um… isn't it kind of obvious? I didn't say half-brother, did I?" I replied sheepishly, spelling it out for her.

She furrowed her eyebrows at this. "Wait… LEO? But – he – Titans – Elders – you – WHAT?" she stuttered, gaping at me like a fish out of water.

"In my time he doesn't become an Elder for another year, but the Titans take a while longer to defeat. I _did_ lie about Paige dying, however. Sorry about that. Your son gets conceived in a few months, which is shortly before Leo would've become an Elder in my time. After that, well, let's just say Leo gets rather busy with his job. I just sped up the process a little bit. How was I to know that he'd completely ditch you guys right from the start – um, no offence – and put me-_my friend _in danger of not being conceived. Sorry," I rambled, cursing myself for the near-slip up. Luckily, for me, she didn't seem to catch it.

"So, let me get this straight. Leo and I have another son after Wyatt, you're his best friend, _we practically raised you_, and you accidentally sped up the deterioration of our marriage… to do _what exactly?_" Piper asked accusingly, glaring at me a little.

And here I thought she was on the road to forgiveness. "I told you already, to save Wyatt."

"But you don't know from what," she concluded, looking at me suspiciously, though I hadn't a clue why.

So, I shrugged, and replied, "Well, isn't that what I've been trying to tell to you for the past… I don't know how many months?"

"Yeah, that's what you've been telling us, but I think there's more to the story, now isn't there," she assumed correctly, still with that apprehensive look on her face. Suddenly, she asked, "What happens to Wyatt?"

I was taken aback, but I answered with my carefully built half-truth, "A demon gets to him."

"What does the demon do to him? There are many kinds of demons, Chris. Does it kill him on the spot, does it infect him with a demon disease, does it turn him evil, does it…" she stopped, seeing me look down and bite my lip when she said _evil_. _No, no, no. This can't be going this far. I was only going to answer one or two questions, not spill everything save my identity. Crap, crap, crap! _"That's it, isn't it," she asked, alarm evident in her features. "He turns evil, and that's why you came back. That's why you want his powers bound, so he can't hurt anyone. That's what happened isn't it?"

"I… I can't tell you that," I whispered, pain in my voice, moving my arm instinctively to rub one particularly painful scar on my arm.

"It is," she said once more, doubt no longer lingering in her voice. "That's why you came back, to stop him from killing. To stop my sweet, beautiful, harmless baby… from becoming a monster."

I sighed and admitted, "Yeah, pretty much. He takes over the world, and good was quashed so completely in him that he can torture, destroy everything, and," I hesitated, finally looking up to see her stunned eyes… the eyes that my evil big brother made close for good, "kill even. He brought about a reign of darkness, one that's still going on. That's why I came back, to stop Wyatt from turning evil, and becoming the Source of all Evil."

Piper leaned back in the couch, a tear trailing down her cheek. _Nice going, Chris. You made her cry. Great, just great. _"But I'll fix it! You were right earlier. He's a very special boy with a _very special_ future. But, you were wrong about one thing. This has nothing to do with how you do your job, but, rather, how I do mine. And all I know is that he turned evil in my time, but you didn't have my help the first time. Now you do, and I intend to stop that future from happening."

A moment of earnest silence followed, and the urgency of my words seemed to echo.

"Chris?" she asked hesitantly after a few minutes.

"Yeah?"

"Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but… were _we_… close in the future? I mean, you said we practically raised you, but-" she rambled, most likely having difficulty finding the right words to ask the question with.

I chuckled a little at her attempt, and as the perfect half-truth came to me. "Yeah, we were really close. My mom died when I was young, and my father was never around, so you guys kind of helped to fill in the space, you know?" The last part was the only lie. She died on my fourteenth birthday, Leo was always absent, and the aunts – "you guys" – did help to fill in the space. I just expanded it to include her. Very little lying there done…

She mumbled something under her breath, and then did something that was definitely… unexpected. She hugged me. "I'm sorry, Chris. The way we've acted towards you, it must've hurt. I'm so sorry."

It was true, it _did_ hurt. But it wasn't as if I expected them to immediately agree with me on everything, so I had managed to disassociate them with their future counterparts - my family. Yet, here, now, this was different. I could feel my eyes watering up, just being in such close proximity with my mother, and yet, it still wasn't my mother, so I was able to force down the tears.

I gently pried myself from her grasp and stood up. "Okay, I've told you way more than I should have, so don't give up on love and I'll be on my way," I said briskly, and went to orb away, but again she stopped me.

"Just one more thing," she said quietly. "What's Wyatt's little brother's name?"

There was silence as I stared into her hopeful eyes. _Could I…_ my mind dared to wonder. _Would it really hurt if told her the truth? I mean, she seems so open right now… if I told her, would the consequences really be that dire?_

Shaking the poisonous thoughts away, I mumbled something about future consequences and orbed away, cursing myself for having this conversation in the first place.


End file.
